Silver to Lead
by highland-daughter
Summary: He is undeniably the King of Lies, no other can compare. But there is one thing that seems to have curbed Loki's sharp and wicked tongue. A mortal archer with azure eyes and a charming smile. Loki/Clint


_**Disclaimer:** All rights belong to Marvel. I own nothing and no profit is being made.  
**Rating:** T_

_**Warning:** Contains language, a bit of sexual situations of the slashy variety._

_**Author:** Fill for a prompt over on **norsekink**._

_**oOoOoOo**_

_**[1]**_

Loki most certainly did not wish to attend one of Anthony Stark's parties.

He'd yet to voice this to Clinton, not wanting to harm his lover's feelings, but he was planning a marvellous scheme to get out of attending. Dressed in what he considered his casual attire, which consisted of leather pants, matching leather boots and tight green shirt, he waited in the lounge area of the Avengers Tower for Clinton to emerge from their shared room.

When he heard the door open he drew a faint breath. "It would seem, darling, that I'm unable to attend Stark's little social gathering." He hated lying to Clinton but this was necessary. He and Stark did not get along. He often voiced his disapproval of Stark's crass treatment of Steven and Stark always attempted physical harm for such voicing. He continued speaking as he turned to face Clinton. "I believe Doom to be up to something and I feel it would be unwise to allow him to…"

Loki's words died the moment he saw Clinton standing in a crisp black tuxedo. The man looked regal and devastatingly handsome. Even fiddling with his cufflinks, Clinton managed to look like a sex symbol. Blue eyes lifted, meeting green, and Loki swallowed visibly.

"Oh," Clinton said as he took a few steps forward and Loki realized the man hadn't really heard a word he'd said regarding Doom's supposed scheming. "Did you say something?"

Loki snapped his fingers and his clothing changed to a black tuxedo with an emerald green silk scarf draped around his neck. "Only that you look stunning, darling," he said as he took Clinton's hand. "Shall we?"

Clinton smiled and Loki decided that spending the evening in Stark's company would be worth it, just so he could stare at the stunning creature that was Clinton Barton.

_**[2]**_

Loki sat across the desk from Coulson, who looked calm, but the Trickster could see the vein in the man's temple throbbing. Apparently someone believed he was responsible for the latest Hulk incident. The switching of decaf coffee to java had been banned some time ago and yet Banner's had mysteriously had been switched. Caffeine rush and an accidental spike in heart rate had resulted in the destruction of one of the SHIELD labs.

Again.

"So," Coulson said after a minute of silence had stretched between them. "Care to explain why you did it?"

Loki was, oddly enough, reminded of the way his mother used to ask him that very question whenever he tricked or pranked someone. Fortunately though, he'd always been very good at lying. "I assure you, Son of Coul," he said, making certain his expression was one of total innocence. "I don't know what happened. I wasn't even present when Doctor Banner…well…when the incident occurred. I wasn't even on Midgard. I was in Jotunheim dealing with a matter of…"

The office door suddenly opened and Clinton stepped into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, Coulson," he said calmly, failing to notice the way Loki's eyes traveled over his bare, sweat covered chest. "But you'll be happy to know that Bruce is back to normal and is currently meditating in his room."

"Thank you, Agent Barton." Coulson's tone was one of a superior politely telling his underling to get out. Clinton nodded and left. But not before giving Loki a look that promised a lecture about this whole thing.

Loki watched his lover leave, regretting the departure mostly because he could no longer sit and stare at the well defined muscles and smooth tan skin. His attention was swiftly drawn back to Coulson when the man cleared his throat. He found himself suddenly unable to recall what lie he'd been about to tell the man and he floundered for a moment causing Coulson to grin ever so slightly.

"You were saying?"

_**[3]**_

A frown graced Loki's face as he watched Jane emerge from the room she shared with Thor. The new dress she wore was a lovely design, no doubt about that, but the floral print reminded him of the curtains he'd seen in many homes of elder Midgardian women. Of course he was not stupid enough to tell her that. A thousand years of living had taught him much. One of them was that you did not tell a woman her dress looked like an old woman's curtains.

"Well," Jane asked, turning in a circle to show off her dress. "What do you think?"

Loki stalled by taking a sip of his tea. The lie came to him easily. He'd used it once upon a time on a maiden in Asgard who'd asked the same question regarding her clothing. "The hemlines are nicely done, not too high or low," he said as he turned his teacup about on the little saucer. "The colors…The colors are certainly vibrant and the yellows bring out your eye color, Jane. I'm sure that Thor will find you ravishing in it and won't be able to do anything but fawn over you and tell you that you look…"

Loki's words stopped sharply when Clinton came walking around the corner wearing a plain white button down shirt and blue jeans. There was nothing special about his lover's choice of clothing and yet Loki could do nothing but stare. Though it may have been due in part to said shirt being unbuttoned, revealing the smooth expanse of Clinton's chest and abdomen.

Clinton stared at Jane for a moment. "No offence Jane, but that dress looks like some of the damn circus tents I performed in as a kid."

Loki barely had time to duck before Jane threw her hairclip at him. So much for being on good terms with the woman who would very likely be his future sister-in-law.

_**[4]**_

Loki had learned some time ago that lying to Steven Rogers was fairly easy. Though the hurt expression on the man's face when the truth was revealed was a hard thing to withstand. It was like someone had kicked a puppy and, though he'd never admit it, that expression bothered him a great deal. Though it never stopped him from lying to the man. Today's lie was merely a retelling of something he'd done when he'd been younger. Though he told the story with Thor being the villainous one.

"So when Sif called me a manipulative little weasel, Thor barely reacted at all," Loki said, waving his hand about dismissively, as though it hadn't mattered then and still didn't matter. "I assumed it was because he agreed with her. His fellow warriors and I were all positively shocked the next morning when Sif stormed into the training area, screeching wildly. All her golden curls cut off."

Steven's eyes widened and he glanced towards the corner of the gym that Thor was currently in. "He cut her hair off? For insulting you?"

Loki nodded. "Though that wasn't the worst of it."

Steven looked at him in shock. "It wasn't?"

Loki shook his head, barely managing to keep from grinning. Really, sometimes he thought Steven was just too gullible for his own good. "No," he said with a slight tinge of fright in his voice. "The worst of it was when Thor stood up at that evening's supper table and announced to the entire court that Sif had lost her hair because of ancient Asgardian magic that affected any Asgardian who had intercourse with a…"

Loki's throat seized up when his gaze, which had been travelling about the gym, landed on Clinton who was sparring with Anthony. He'd seen the two men spar before but for some reason watching Clinton, who was dressed in black shorts and a white wife-beater, easily manhandle Anthony, had an unexpected result. His gaze slid hungrily over his lover's body. He watched as muscles bunched and knew just how much strength Clinton had, and how effectively the man could wield said strength. And not just in a sparring either.

"Loki?"

Steven's voice, soft and concerned, drew Loki's gaze. "Sorry," the Trickster said as he briefly looked at Steven before he returned to watching Clinton. "But I don't remember what I was saying."

He heard Steven laugh and couldn't bring himself to care that the man no doubt thought him a scatter brain.

_**[5]**_

Thor glared at Loki and Loki glared right back.

"Honestly, Thor," Loki snapped, shaking his head and causing his midnight hair to fall about his forehead. "My remaining on Midgard hardly has anything to do with Odin."

"Admit it, Brother, you're afraid! You're worried what Father will do if you should return home."

Loki's glare deepened. Part of him, a small part he'd been trying to kill since falling from the Bifrost, knew Thor was right. But the part of him that was what people saw, the mask, refused to allow such ideas to float about. Especially when it was Thor giving voice to them. Maintaining his aloof air, Loki propped his hip against the back of the sofa, still glaring at Thor.

"I do not feel fear, Thor," he snapped viscously, eyes flashing with magic. "Not of Odin. Not of you. Not of anything! I will not return to Asgard because I am not a citizen of Asgard! I am not a prince of Asgard! I am a prince of Jotunheim and you will do well to remember it. When I return to Asgard, and return I will, it will be to overthrow that old bastard who dared steal me from…"

Loki stopped speaking the moment he saw Steven and Clinton walk in. His heart clenched when he saw blood trickling down Clinton's face. "Clinton…" He rushed to the man, who caught his hand when he started to raise it to check the wound.

"I'm fine, Lo," Clinton said with a strained grin. "Mission got a little hairy but I'm fine. Bad bonk on the head but I'll live."

Loki shook his head, not wanting to know whatever dangerous situation could have taken Clinton from him forever and merely waved his hand, healing the injury and started fussing over his lover. He knew Thor was grinning behind him but didn't care. Let Thor grin and think he was going soft. It didn't matter. So long as Clinton was safe and unharmed everything was fine.

_**[6]**_

Clint had come to learn a great deal about Loki.

One of the most important things was that the man had properly earned the title of Liesmith. But something else he had learned was that Loki lied most frequently to hide his emotions. If Loki was frustrated, sad or just in a bad mood, he lashed out by lying. Sometimes he wouldn't even be in a bad mood. He would lie to keep from seeming too happy or excited. Especially if someone pointed out he was in a good mood and wanted to know the reason.

Lying was a security thing for Loki. Like a small child with a blanket or teddy bear.

Anyone else might have found that annoying or utterly frustrating but Clint could understand Loki's reasons. He saw beyond the lies. He saw the frightened and, at times, fragile, man Loki truly was. The man who yearned desperately for acceptance but was uncertain how to properly go about getting it. Hence the lying and manipulation. Clint had also figured out a way to make Loki's lies falter or fail all together.

Over the last several months he noticed that if Loki were lying and he was somehow nearby or happened upon the scene, the so called Trickster stopped talking and focused completely on him. And thus the lie would fall apart. He wasn't one hundred percent certain of it, but tonight he was going to test his theory. Tony had invited them to yet another fund raiser and when Clint had mentioned it at the supper he and Loki had privately shared he'd seen the gears starting to turn in Loki's head.

He knew Loki rarely lied to him, but he also knew that Loki and Tony barely tolerated one another. So he knew Loki would try to come up with a lie to get out of attending. With this foreknowledge, Clint had a plan of his own to put into action. After supper, he'd told Loki he was going to shower and get cleaned up for the party. Loki had made a soft grunt and flopped on their bed, materializing a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel out of thin air and begun reading it.

Now, freshly showered, Clint was about to test his theory of Loki being unable to lie to him if he did something casual and pretended to be completely unaware that he had any affect on Loki. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Clint walked back into the bedroom, not surprised that Loki wasn't facing the bathroom door and appeared engrossed in his book. He knew the second he cleared the bathroom door and Loki inhaled that the Trickster was about to try and lie.

"Darling," Loki said as he set his book aside. "I know you were hoping for me to attend Anthony's party with you but I'm afraid I've just received word from Jotunheim about a threat from the…"

Clint had just opened the top dresser drawer and dropped his towel when Loki fell silent. He fought down his grin and casually looked up at his lover. Loki was staring at him like he was about to pounce at any given moment. Tilting his head slightly, Clint managed to look confused instead of triumphant. Though it was a tad difficult. "Sorry, Lo," he said with a sheepish smile. "I was thinking about how much of a donation to make and well…I didn't really catch any of that beyond the darling part."

Loki's gaze slowly slid up Clint's body, lingering for a few moments on his groin, before their eyes met. The book Loki held vanished, as did the Trickster's clothing, and a sly grin appeared on his face. "I was saying," Loki all but purred as he stretched out on his back, holding a hand out to Clint. "That we should have a quick roll before heading to Anthony's event."

Clint grinned as he slowly approached the bed. "But I just showered."

"Hmm." Loki caught hold of his hand when he was close enough and pulled him down, rolling them so he was straddling Clint's waist. "Well then, we'll just have to shower together once we're both…sated. What do you think, _darling_?"

Clint's grin widened as he reached up and laced his fingers in Loki's hair. "I think it takes a lot to sate you, Lo."

Loki chuckled and leaned down until their noses almost touched. "Well, I think once in the bed and once in the shower should keep me satisfied until after Anthony's little party."

Clint started to chuckle only to moan when Loki kissed him. Oh yeah, he definitely knew how to keep Loki from lying. And wasn't it just the best?

_**oOoOoOo**_

_**Author:** Fin!_


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